“Israel’s” killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab “could be a war crime”

Independent experts warn that the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab, her family and two medics could constitute a war crime.

The experts condemned as “unacceptable” Israeli claims that its troops were not present in the area at the time. They also called for an immediate end to attacks on Gaza’s civilian population that have killed over 38,000 Palestinians, including 13,000 children, warning that the widespread nature of these attacks could amount to crimes against humanity.

“The failure to adequately investigate and hold those responsible to account more than five months after the tragic killing of Hind and six other members of her family who were trapped in a car that came under Israeli fire in Gaza is deeply disturbing and may in itself constitute a violation of the right to life,” the experts said.

“The brutality of these killings seems to underscore the army’s ruthlessness in its Gaza campaign: all cases of extrajudicial killings must be properly investigated and brought to justice,” they added.

The experts said that Hind’s family, like many others in Gaza, had been forcibly displaced several times due to Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.

They were killed, the experts said, as they fled the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood for safety. This appears to be part of a larger pattern of indiscriminate killings of civilians trying to escape the relentless Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip after receiving so-called “evacuation orders” from the Israeli military.

Not an isolated case

The experts stressed that the killing of Hind Rajab and her family by the Israelis was not an isolated incident, but part of a disturbing pattern.

“We are extremely concerned about the pattern of apparently indiscriminate and targeted attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip, including at sites used for humanitarian assistance or to host internally displaced persons,” they said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel launched a massive airstrike in the south of the country. #GazaAccording to Al-Mawasi, the terrorist militia dropped eight 2,000-pound bombs a few days ago, allegedly in an attempt to kill Hamas’ top military leader, Mohammad Deif.

The precision-guided ammunition … pic.twitter.com/yp9cYnOoJG

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 18, 2024

“The firing of large-caliber shells at a humanitarian zone near an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Gaza, killing 22 displaced civilians, and more recently the attacks on IDP tents in the Al Mawasi area, on the Ash Shati’ refugee camp and on the UNRWA Abu Oreiban school housing IDPs, which killed, among others, nearly 320 Palestinians, half of them women and children, have reinforced the fact that there is no safe place in Gaza,” the experts added.

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The experts stressed that these attacks constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law. They called for such attacks to be promptly and thoroughly investigated and for those responsible to be held accountable and subjected to severe punishment.

“The deliberate or indiscriminate killing of protected persons, including civilians, medical personnel and humanitarian workers, is a war crime and, when systematic, a crime against humanity and must be prevented at all costs,” the experts warned.

“We remain deeply alarmed by the total impunity and the apparent lack of investigation and prevention of these crimes. This is all the more worrying in light of the recent order by the International Court of Justice for Israel to take immediate measures to protect the people of Gaza from the risk of genocide,” they said.

In addition, the experts called on the Israeli government to allow independent experts, including international human rights monitoring groups, access to Gaza. Such access is crucial for a credible investigation into all violations of international law that have taken place since the start of the Israeli military operation, the experts said.

They also reiterated their call for an immediate ceasefire and called for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

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